


please don't be in love with someone else

by wildestdreams



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Bottom Louis, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Humiliation, Light Angst, M/M, Pining, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-04-26
Packaged: 2018-03-25 19:46:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3822592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildestdreams/pseuds/wildestdreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry ran after Niall, out the door, pausing at the doorway, realizing he was only in his boxer briefs and yelled out, “Niall! You forgot your lunch.”</p><p>Just as Niall paused from all the way down the hall, the door opposite theirs opened and the hottest boy Harry had ever seen walked out, eyes widening when he spotted a half naked Harry. </p><p>Harry was so fixated upon the boy across from him, who was staring right back with his mouth now hanging open, he’d missed it when Niall bounded back towards him and grabbed the lunch before popping a kiss on his cheek and leaving again. The kiss snapped Harry out of his daze and he let out a breathy laugh as the pretty boy walked out furthermore, closing his door behind him. He gave Harry a small smile back, raising his eyebrows in amusement while looking down past Harry’s waist and then back up. </p><p>or </p><p>The one where Harry and Louis are neighbors and there's a lot of overthinking, misunderstandings, Backstreet Boys sing alongs, embarrassing moments in the hallway, and pining. They somehow still make it work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	please don't be in love with someone else

**Author's Note:**

  * For [louiswillian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/louiswillian/gifts).



> for the prompt: Harry and Louis are neighbors and they keep bumping into each other every time one of them is leaving (or arriving). One day Louis comes home piss drunk and passes out right outside of Harry's door. When Harry finds him, he takes him inside his house and lets him sleep in his bed. They get to know each other after that. (i have a thing for high school and university au's i apologize and please all of them bottom!louis)
> 
> i hope you like this louiswillian. i wish i could have done more with it, but i didn't wanna stray too far from your prompt. it's mostly just me trying to funny, but probably failing. i had fun writing it regardless. 
> 
> big thanks to a for being beta u [little sunburned woman](http://skyebyrd.tumblr.com/)
> 
> a few references where i got inspiration from: [x](http://ohsebs.tumblr.com/post/101213543198/oddly-specific-aus-i-need), [x](http://brokefoot.tumblr.com/post/79337986988/ka-hoo-na-i-wanna-know-you-better-than-the-back).
> 
> the sex manip is by [maelys](http://yourssincerelylarry.tumblr.com) and the sex gif is by [x](http://since-he-was-eighteen.tumblr.com)
> 
> title from "enchanted" by taylor swift, but that's to be expected. lmao

** **

**L**

Louis woke up to the sound of moving trucks outside of his window, hauling in furniture and big boxes filled with textbooks and quirky knick knacks that University students owned these days, like acoustic guitars and Charles Bukowski poem books. He didn’t mind, he thought, as he peered out his window, glaring at the ruckus. He just didn’t want to be woken up an hour before he meant to. It seriously messed up his day to day routine if he missed even a half hour of sleep. Sleep was fucking crucial if you were a student. Nevertheless, Louis knew he couldn’t go to sleep anymore because the voices of loud, excited new students were now filtering in through his window, waking him up furthermore.

It was a new fall term at Manchester University and second years were moving into a few of the flats in their apartment complex. After first year, their Uni didn’t allow students to dorm anymore, so they had to get off campus housing, instead. Louis remembered how excited he’d been to move out of dorms and into his own flat because the freedom was unlimited then. No RA’s would be busting anyones’ chops and they could get as sloppy as they wanted. They could get as high as they wanted without being reprimanded for the smell. Exactly what every Uni kid dreamed of.

After creepily staring out his window for a few moments, watching parents and students milling in and out of the complex with their shit, Louis yawned and headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He walked out of the bathroom, toothbrush in his mouth, and found his roommate, Zayn, eating cereal and drawing at their small kitchen table.

“Hey,” Zayn said, barely looking up from his sheet of paper with some weird alien thing on it. “Morning.”

“Morning,” Louis mumbled, toothpaste dribbling down his chin. “What’s up?”

“Drawing,” he replied, like it wasn’t obvious enough.

Louis hummed before spitting out into the kitchen sink, something which caused Zayn to wrinkle his nose. “You seen the new sophomores moving in?” he asked, ignoring the look of disgust aimed his way.

“Yeah,” Zayn nodded. “Started moving in at arse o'clock in the morning. Thought I’d get a early start, too. Have to go meet my counselor to to fix up some classes.”

“What’s the matter with your classes?” Louis asked.

“I wanted to get Jarmon for prob/stats again, but he was all filled up when I was signing up. I’m going to go beg and see if they’ll open up one more seat for me.”

Louis raised his eyebrows in response. “Yeah, alright. I guess I’ll see you later then?”

“You’ve got work?” Zayn asked.

“Yep,” Louis nodded. Louis worked at the front desk of the drama department. He was basically every professor's assistant; aiding them in filing, keeping track of their schedules, and helping any students who needed to meet with someone in the department for extra help. They were all mostly his friends, too, because he was a drama major. Not to sound cocky or anything, but Louis was very well known amongst his classmates for his performance in the production of Into the Woods as Prince Charming last year.

Zayn finished up his cereal and stood up, putting the bowl in the sink after thoroughly washing over Louis’s toothpaste. “Alright. Maybe we could meet up for a late lunch? I’ll call up El and Ant. See if they want to hang.”

“Sounds good, mate,” Louis replied, walking back to the bathroom to finish getting freshened up.

**…**

On his way out of his flat, Louis found that the apartment across from his and Zayn’s was getting new people, too. Their good friend Liam lived there. He curiously watched as a brunette woman and a shorter blond walked in carrying boxes. Following them was a grinning blond haired boy with a snapback over his hair, who looked at Louis and waved before going inside.

Louis realized he’d been standing there too long, staring at them, and closed his door behind him before starting to lock it. He knew Liam, who was a third year now, had lived with seniors last year, all of whom had graduated. However, when he’d hung out at Zayn and Louis’s two nights ago, he didn’t mention getting any new roommates. It made sense that he was getting them, though, because living alone off campus was not ideal unless you were loaded. These flats did not come cheap.

“Got the last few boxes, Harry?” Louis heard from behind him.

“Just one more left, Ni,” the guy in question responded. “Are my Mum and Gemma inside?”

“Yeah, they’re setting up your room, I think. My Mam’s coming around in a few to help me, too.”

“Can’t wait to see Maura,” the other guy laughed, his voice deep and gravelly, but raspy when he laughed.

When Louis turned, after finishing locking the door, he found the blond guy from earlier heading towards the stairs, while _Harry_ walked inside, carrying a huge box. Louis only caught a glimpse of his back, but it was nice. A very nice back, indeed. He had long hair, tied up in a bun, and he was wearing the tightest jeans Louis had ever seen. On top he had on a thin white t-shirt, wet from perspiration, accentuating his muscles. He was fit from the back for sure, but up front could be a whole other story.

Not bad, Louis thought, before walking down the stairs and towards campus.

**H**

It had been three weeks since Harry and Niall had moved into their new flat with Liam and two weeks since classes started up again. Despite that they’d already formed a bit of a routine.

Every morning, Harry woke up at six AM, or, as Niall liked to call it, _the ass crack of dawn_ , and went for his run. After his run, he came back home and tried to wake up Niall (Niall would usually grumble and fall back asleep). He then greeted Liam on the way to the bathroom while Liam walked out of there, fresh from his shower. Once Harry freshened up, he’d walk out, clad in his boxer briefs, and attempt to wake Niall up again because he wouldn’t get up the first time. Then he’d get started on breakfast. It was only then that Niall would rise from his bed and drift towards the kitchen, following the smell of eggs and toast. The three of them then had breakfast, talked about one thing or another like footie or girls or boys or their friends and since Harry’s classes always started later and Niall’s the earliest, he packed him a bag of lunch with last night’s leftovers.

Most people found it a bit weird because Niall was a grown arse man, but he’d been coddled by his mother his entire life and this treatment hadn’t stopped even after Uni because he’d met Harry, who was the mother hen of their squad. Harry loved Niall like he was his own son and always liked cooking anyway, so he packed him a lunch bag as a pre-lunch because Niall got hungry during class and couldn’t concentrate. The last part of the routine involved Liam briskly walking out the door, waving goodbye to Harry, and Niall running after him to catch a ride so he wouldn’t have to walk the ten minutes to campus.

On one particular day, Niall had forgotten his lunch because he’d spent a bit longer in the bathroom and Harry ran after him, out the door. He paused at the doorway, realizing he was only in his boxer briefs and yelled out, “Niall! You forgot your lunch.”

Just as Niall paused from all the way down the hall, the door opposite theirs opened and the hottest boy Harry had ever seen walked out, eyes widening when he spotted a half naked Harry. Harry would be embarrassed, but he’d always been a nudist at heart, so he wasn’t that ashamed. He never had a problem with taking off his clothes and walking around stark naked, but out of the goodness of his heart for the boys he lived with and the stern warnings from his mum, he spared everyone and wore the briefs.

Harry was so fixated upon the boy across from him, who was staring right back with his mouth now hanging open, he’d missed it when Niall bounded back towards him and grabbed the lunch before popping a kiss on his cheek and leaving again. The kiss snapped Harry out of his daze and he let out a breathy laugh as the pretty boy walked out furthermore, closing his door behind him. He gave Harry a small smile back, raising his eyebrows in amusement while looking down past Harry’s waist and then back up.

When Harry locked eyes with him again, given the close proximity between them now, he was instantly floored by the color of his eyes. They were the prettiest shade of blue he’d ever seen and Harry was sure he if he looked into them long enough, he’d be lost in them forever. It was rather upsetting, though, when the boy dropped his gaze and turned his back to Harry to lock his door. Harry stood there awkwardly, running a hand through his hair, which was drying up into loose curls, and scratched the back of his neck.

The boy turned back to Harry again and smiled wider this time. It was so sweet and Harry wondered if his lips tasted just that. “Have a nice day,” he said to Harry and Harry’s lips parted, his mouth drying up. His voice sounded like sweet, warm honey on a spring day.

It only occurred to Harry that he hadn’t said anything back once the pretty boy started walking away and that was just bad manners. He couldn’t let him walk away thinking Harry was rude or worse, _not interested_.

“You too!” Harry called back, albeit a bit delayed.

The pretty boy stopped walking and turned around, already halfway down the hall, and smiled brightly at Harry again. Harry smiled back so hard, his cheeks hurt and if he walked back inside and giggled a bit then no one had to know.

**…**

“Say, Liam,” Harry said contemplatively from his seat at the dining table. Liam hummed from his spot on the couch, feet up on their coffee table while watching some Bob’s Burger episode. “Do you know the guys who live across from us?”

“Louis and Zayn?” Liam asked after a moment.

“I guess?”

“Yeah, I know them,” Liam nodded. “They’re good guys. We’re mates. Occasionally see each other. Why?”

Harry shrugged even though Liam wasn’t looking at him while toying with the pen in his hand and doodling stars on the corner of his management notes. “Just wondering. I saw one of them today. He was cool.”

“I met one of them, too,” Niall piped up from where he was lying down on the couch beside Liam’s. “We bumped into each other on the stairs and laughed when we realized we lived right across from each other. Said he was a maths major.”

Harry bit on the end of his pen, wondering if it was the same boy that he had seen that Niall had met. Did he seem like a maths major type? How do maths majors look? In Harry’s opinion, the pretty boy looked like a model at most. He wore really nice, tight blue jeans with this white shirt on top paired off with a jeans shirt over it. It was a simple outfit, but he made it look like Gucci. And his bone structure on his face was remarkable. God did a good one when he made him.

“That’s Zayn,” Liam told them.

“What does Zayn look like?” Harry quickly asked.

“Dark, blackish hair--um--medium height,” Liam shrugged. “I don’t fucking know. He’s good looking, though. My friend, Hallie, hooked up with him and says he looks like he was chiseled by the gods.”

Dark, blackish hair. Definitely not the boy Harry saw, which would mean--.

“The other one is Louis,” Liam provided right after. “He’s got light brown-ish hair and he’s a drama and music major.”

Harry smiled down at his notes, matching up with face with the name and major. It was perfect.

**L**

“Liam’s new roommate is hot as fuck,” was the first thing Louis said to Zayn when he found him in their usual booth at the campus pub.

Zayn looked up at him and let out an amused chuckle. “Hello to you, too, Lou.”

Louis gave him a bored look before saying, “Yeah, you, too. But anyways, Liam’s new roommate, like. Shit. You know?”

“Are you talking about Niall?” Zayn asked, sipping his coke. “Because if you are, I think he’s straight.”

Louis shook his head quickly. “No, not Niall. The other one. I never got a name, but I feel like I heard it at some point -- just can’t remember it. I saw him outside of their door wearing nothing but fucking boxer briefs. He has the most beautiful body, Zayn. Like not too buff, not too skinny -- you know -- exactly the type that I like. It was the perfect amount of everything. He’s got the abs, the muscle, but also a little bit of love handles. And tattoos. Holy _mother_ of tattoos!”

Zayn full on laughed after that, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Definitely not Niall then. He hasn’t got any tattoos because he told me so right after he told me that mine were sick.”

“This one had tattoos, Z. Lots of them. _Everywhere_.” Louis stole a sip of Zayn’s coke before continuing. “Right, so I walk out and he’s standing there like practically naked and that other one -- Niall, I guess -- runs up to him and the hot one hands him a fucking lunch bag and waves him off. It was so cute. And he checked me out. Like a lot. Probably more than I checked him out and I checked him out a lot.”

“That’s good,” Zayn replied casually. “Did you talk to him?”

Louis nodded enthusiastically and proudly. “I told him,” Louis said slowly, building up dramatic effect. “To have a nice day.”

“Did he tell you to not tell him what to do?” Zayn snickered as if he just made the greatest joke.

Louis gave him another bored look. “No,” he said flatly. “He told me same. Anyways, do you think Liam would feel taken advantage of if I asked him to hook me up with his new roommate because I haven’t spoken or seen him since that party weeks ago.”

Zayn only rolled his eyes and picked up the menu, which, _rude_.  

**…**

After the initial meeting in the hallway, Louis saw the Hot Neighbour (a nickname he’d so kindly started using in reference to the boy) quite often. The two of them bumped into each other while going in or out of their flats and it was something new every time.

There was one time Louis was leaving his flat to head to work early and he saw the Hot Neighbour walking into his flat wearing nothing but basketball shorts (honestly, what was with him and the nakedness -- not that Louis minded -- but damn, give him some time to recover from the first incident), hung low on his waist, with sweat beading down his _sinful body_. Louis wanted to say something, but his mouth dried up at the sight, aching to taste the perspiration on his abs with his tongue while tracing his confusing tattoos. Instead, the Hot Neighbour waved to him with a smile and Louis lamely waved back.

And while that would be considered embarrassing, the tables turned a few days later and Louis got to be on the opposite end instead. He was walking back to his flat after a rousing game of footie with Stan and a few other mates when he bumped into Hot Neighbour, who was on his way out. Their eyes locked and Louis couldn’t deny the way Hot Neighbor’s eyes raked over his sweaty body in a not so subtle way. Louis felt cheeky and quite confident then. He had adrenaline rushing and pumping through his veins since he’d won the game, so he wanted to be a little daring and forward. A little flirty and charming. He wanted to say something other than ‘hi’ for once.

“Hey,” he nodded towards Hot Neighbor without much thought. “Where ya heading?”

Hot Neighbor smiled at him politely, looking rather nervous.

“Hey! Not much,” he replied.

The two of them froze for a moment and Louis gave a short laugh before nodding his head again and putting his key in his door. He wanted to spare Hot Neighbour the humiliation because the look on his face was extremely mortified and Louis didn’t want to make him feel worse. He could hear him cursing under his breath from all the way down the hall.

Then there was another time when the two of them bumped into each other while walking through the front door at the same time and nervously giggled, gesturing for the other to go in first. “After you,” Hot Neighbour insisted. Louis smiled at him, blushing a bit before walking in.

All their meetings went a little something like that. Either it was embarrassing or sweet and nervous. There wasn’t a day when Louis wouldn’t walk out of his flat or go into his building without thinking of Hot Neighbour and whether or not they’d see each other. More or less, he hoped he would.

**…**

The following week, Louis ran into Liam and Hot Neighbour’s other roommate, Niall. He was bright and cheery looking as he smiled at Louis as soon as he saw him. “Hey,” he said. “I’m Niall. I just moved in here. Well not just, it’s been a few weeks, but we haven’t met.”

Louis smiled as he closed his door. “Right. You’re Niall?”

“That would be me, yes,” he nodded.

“Zayn’s told me about you,” Louis said. “I’m Louis.”

“Nice to meet you,” he grinned, the two of them falling into step as they made their way down. “I’ve actually heard a bit about you, too.”

“Have you?” Louis chuckled. “Zayn’s been talking about me?”

Niall shook his head. “My other roommate Harry said he’s seen you around.”

Right. That was the name Louis’d heard Niall say when he’d seen them that very first day. “Harry’s the curly haired lad that doesn’t really wear clothes?” Louis inquired, just to be sure.

Niall laughed brightly as they walked out the front door. “Yeah, that’s Harry alright. He’s a good guy, but like you said, doesn’t wear much clothes. In fact, the first time I met him last year when we dormed together, he was completely naked just setting up his side of the room.”

“That must have been a warm welcome,” Louis said, aiming for a joke but knowing that if it was him in Niall’s position he’d probably have pounced on Harry.

Niall laughed again. “I guess,” he said. “Anyways. Nice meeting you, Louis. I’m going to head to lectures.”

“You, too,” Louis said, waving at him and walking down his way.

**H**

Come mid-October, with the first round of exams just around the corner, Harry spent majority of his Sunday at the library with a few of his classmates to do revision. They’d claimed a corner on the top floor where it was the most quiet and all sat around, bouncing off facts and quizzing each other. When they got hungry, they grabbed food from the small cafe on the lower floor and somehow, Harry made it through that whole day of revision. It wasn’t until the library announced they were closing that they all packed up their books and went their separate ways.

Harry walked the ten minute walk to his flat, noticing how deserted the campus looked at night on the weekend. It was a bit eery so he picked up his pace, practically jogging the last minute to his building. When he made it inside and up the stairs, he started fishing for his keys in his pockets, only to freeze when he heard the loud music coming from down the hall. And it wasn’t just _any_ kind of music.

It was the _Backstreet Boys_.

The Backstreet Boys were Harry’s _favorite boy band_ and he’d grown up jamming out to their songs, pretending he was Brian Littrell or Nick Carter while lip synching.

To his delight, the closer he walked, drawn to the music, he realized it was coming from Louis and Zayn’s flat. He grinned, standing out there and swaying doofily to the music until he heard a voice singing from inside.

“ _Am I your fire? Your one desire? Yes, I know, it’s too late, but I want it that way_.”

Harry knew right off the bat it was Louis singing because of how raspy and high pitched the voice was. He’d met Zayn and spoken to him enough to know that his voice was deeper. This brought a rather large smile on his face, imagining Louis probably re-enacting that Tom Cruise scene from Risky Business while singing, and he couldn’t help but get excited as the chorus bit came up.

“ _Tell me why ain’t nothin’ but a heartache. Tell me why ain’t nothin’ but a mistake_ ,” Louis belted out at the top of his lungs.

Before Harry could stop himself, he started singing along as well and quite loudly at that. “ _Tell me why I never wanna hear you say I want it that way_.’”

He was just about ready to go to the bridge when the music suddenly cut off and Harry realized what he’d done. He could hear dead silence from the other side of the door and he bolted towards his own flat, shoving his keys inside before stumbling in and locking it behind him quickly. As he stood there, leaning back against the door and panting heavily, he peeked out through the peephole and saw Louis poke his head out of his own door and look on both sides.

Harry felt his heart hammering in his chest while he waited with bated breath for Louis to go back inside. He felt so stupid for pulling what he just did. His cheeks were coloring rapidly and warming up his entire face the more he thought about it, watching Louis inspect the hallway like he was waiting for whoever was singing with him to come out and reveal themselves. As if. Harry would rather die than out himself. He was a fucking idiot, he thought to himself.

“Hey, Harry.”

Harry jumped back, twirling around and grasping over his heart as he looked at Niall, who’d just walked into the front room. He let out a visible sigh of relief and slumped against the door.

“Fuck, Niall. Don’t ever fucking say _hey, Harry_ like that again. Like ever.”

Niall gave him a weird look and snorted. “Why’re you staring out our door like that? Fucks wrong with you?”

“I--uh--I did something dumb,” Harry breathed out, stepping away from the door, giving it one last look and wondering if Louis was still out there. He followed Niall into their kitchen, watching as the blond boy opened up the fridge and took out ingredients to make a sandwich.

“What’d you do?” Niall asked, licking his fingers as he uncapped the mayonnaise jar.

Harry leaned against the counter, watching him and chewed on his bottom lip before pulling it between his fingers. When he didn’t respond for a while, instead focusing on Niall toasting his bread and then placing meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber over it, Niall looked up at him with a smirk.

“You gonna tell me, or--?” he asked.

Harry breathed out heavily before speaking. “I--uh, I like--,” he stammered.

“Out with it.”

Harry groaned, rubbing over his eyebrows and then between his eyes. “I was walking to our flat and I heard Louis singing Backstreet Boys inside his flat. And I--uh--I started singing back?”

Niall stared at him for a moment before he started to laugh loudly, his head thrown back and voice echoing off the walls. “Shit, oh my god. Did he hear you?” he wheezed out, rubbing at his eyes to get rid of the tears that welled up there.

Harry nodded meekly. “He stopped the music and stopped singing, too. I ran inside before he could see me, but he was out looking for whoever it was and that’s what I was looking at through the peep hole.”

Niall continued to laugh and Harry continued to blush and when Liam came home, they retold the story and the whole thing continued.

**L**

Louis was unbelievably smashed.

When Zayn had suggested that the pair go out for the night to celebrate it being Friday and having survived the first round of stressful exams, Louis couldn’t deny. They went to the bar with all their friends and drank their weight in with several vodka shots, fruit, colorful looking martinis and some plain old pints. A few hours in, Eleanor, one of Louis’s childhood best friend’s, was hanging off of him while sipping on a pink cocktail and staring at this guy from her Lit class who she had a massive crush on, while Louis was wondering where Zayn went off to. The last he saw him, he was smoking by the exit, but he’d disappeared from there.

“Loueh,” Eleanor slurred, staggering and causing him to shuffle back, too. “Do you think, like, I should go say hi or just look alluring from afar and make him come to me?”

Louis pulled his lips in, looking over to where the object of Eleanor’s affection stood. He was cute, he had to give her that. Not a bad choice at all. Tall, shaggy brown hair, and his dancing was rather impressive. Louis tried to remember his name -- Mike or Max from what Eleanor had told him, but he could be wrong. “I think,” Louis said. “You should walk by a few times. You know? Like, grab his attention and then have him come to you.”

“You’re right,” Eleanor agreed, leaning back to look at him with a massive grin. “Perfect idea. You’re so good at this stuff, Lou. Why the fuck are you single?”

Louis shrugged as modestly as he could. “Can’t say I know.”

“No progress on Hot Neighbour Harry?”

“Nope,” Louis shook his head sadly. “Still just admiring him from afar -- or across the hall. At least we say hi to each other now and don’t just gawk at one another.”

“True,” she nodded. “That is _some_ progress, though, minimal.”

“Yeah, but I really want to just make a move already. He’s so fucking hot, El. You have to see him, like, half naked, it’s so sexy. I want to lick his tattoos off and then lick them back on again or something.”

Eleanor nodded her head, listening to Louis intently, her expression serious and understanding. “I get it, Lou. And you know what? Sometimes you just have to fucking do it. Like, go up to him and just be like _hey, I like you_.”

“You’re so right,” Louis cried, throwing up his hands in exclamation and enthusiasm. “You’re so fucking right, El. Like, sometimes you just have to do it. You can’t chicken out otherwise you’ll just always wonder. You’ll wonder if you had gone out of your way and said hey, I think you’re hot, then whether or not you missed out on some great sex or not. So true.”

Eleanor slammed her empty glass down on the table and looked at Louis impassionately. “I think that tonight we both realized we can’t let these chances go. We’ve got to take them in our hands and do what we will.”

“Yes,” Louis agreed, slamming his own drink down as well. “You go and fucking dance up on that 90’s John Stamos wannabe and I’ll go home and tell Harry I want to lick him.”

Eleanor gave him a giddy high five and the two of them departed like they were on a God damn mission, which _fuck yeah_. Louis stumbled towards the exit, finally noticing Zayn by the corner making out with some girl, and walked out into the cold, October night. Their flat was a small five minute walk from the bar so on the way Louis thought up a few things he was going to say to Harry. By the time he reached the front door, he was stuck between _did you live on a chicken farm? Because you sure know how to raise a cock_ and _Hey, do you wanna 68? You go down on me and I’ll owe you one._

They were both extremely plausible options and he repeated them to himself as he climbed his stairs and walked down the hall towards their flats. But the more he walked, the more he felt dizzy and like he was going to be dead on his feet any second. And sure enough, the moment he got up to Harry’s door and knocked, he felt himself slipping and blacking out.

**…**

Louis woke up in heaven.

He was drowning in a soft, navy duvet and the nicest pillows he’d ever slept on and the first thing he saw was Harry’s arse. It wasn’t bare, unfortunately, but covered because he had pants on. Nevertheless, it was there and what a way to wake up. However, the blissful, happy moment ended abruptly when his vision adjusted and the dull pain hit his head like a freight train.

“Fuck,” Louis mumbled, wanting the bed to consume him until he was nothing.

Harry turned around and fuck Louis, really. He was all wet from a shower, his curls framing his perfect face and his body looking cool and clean with goosebumps all over. Harry was watching him with a frown etched on his brows and his pink lips puckered.

“Hi, good morning. Are you alright?” he quickly asked, walking closer. And great, now his dick was, like, right there and Louis groaned, but not in pleasure. It was in pain. He clutched his head and shook his head.

“Feel like death.”

“You look like death.”

And honestly, what the hell? That was a bit rude. Louis frowned at him, looking as affronted as he could given the fact that it hurt to even move his face.

Harry quickly realized how awful he sounded and shook his head, waving his hands in front of Louis. “No, I didn’t mean you look ugly death. You’re like cute death.”

“Cute death?” Louis frowned.

“Fuck,” Harry mumbled.

“How did I get here?” Louis asked, trying to sit up. He looked around the small room with white walls. The bed he was lying on was double sized and pushed against the corner next to the window. There was a small dresser, a desk on the other side and an array of all kinds of Chelsea boots next to the closet. _Interesting_. “Is this your room?” he asked, turning to look back at Harry.

Harry nodded, still awkwardly standing there, half naked. “I -- uh, I found you passed out in front of my door last night.”

This would be that perfect time for the bed to consume him until he didn’t exist anymore because Louis was _mortified_. Vague memories of last night started to slowly, but surely come back to him as unfortunate as that was. He hardly remembered anything past leaving the bar after he’d had that chat with Eleanor. Was he _actually_ going to knock on Harry’s door and ask him to fucking shag?

Louis had to stop drinking, starting immediately, and reevaluate the life choices that he tended to make under the influence because this was embarrassing.

Harry cleared his throat, catching Louis’s attention again. “Right, so, I tried helping you up, but you were saying some stuff to me and like, falling all over the place, so I gave up and tried ringing your doorbell, but no one was home.”

Louis was probably ten shades of red by the end of that and he scratched his head, awkwardly, trying desperately to remember what he could have been saying to Harry. It was probably so bad, so embarrassing. Fuck. “Um,” he mumbled. “Yeah. Zayn was at the bar when I left.”

“You walked home alone in that state?” Harry asked, looking at him with an amused expression. “You were drunk as fuck. Sloshed. Completely pissed.”

“I’m aware, Harry,” Louis replied, bitterly even though there was a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“Anyways,” Harry said, his dimple poking out in a grin. “I didn’t know what to do and couldn’t leave you out there on your own so, I brought you here and let you sleep here. Hope you don’t mind.”

Louis stared at the beautiful, majestic boy in front of him. He couldn’t possibly be real if what Louis heard was correct. “Mind? Me?” he asked, like he needed to be sure Harry was real. “You hope I didn’t mind that you didn’t leave me passed out in the hallway. Harry, you’re kidding, right? Thank you so much for helping me.”

Harry smiled at him, shyly, his teeth sinking into his bottom lip. “It’s fine. My pleasure, really. Would you want some breakfast? I can make a mean fry up.”

“That would actually be really great, thanks,” Louis said. “As soon as I can manage to get out of bed.”

Harry laughed, walking towards his door. “Bathroom’s on your left once you get out. If you’re going to throw up, do it in the toilet bowl and spray it with that lemon stuff under the sink otherwise Liam gets _super_ annoyed. Also, how do you like your eggs?”

**H**

When Harry had found Louis lying unconscious in front of his door last night, he almost called the police. However, he decided not to after he bent down on the floor and felt the Louis’s placid body stirring beside him with his eyes barely open and grappling at Harry’s face. It was funny because Louis recognized Harry, but was hardly aware of it. He kept poking his dimples and grabbing his nose. At some point, while Harry was trying to lift him, which proved to be slightly difficult because Louis was dead weight, he started muttering on about Harry’s lips.

“You have a great mouth, Harry,” Louis had said. “Like, kissable, kinda.”

Louis then giggled and started losing his balance again. Harry stood there for a long time with him, knocking on Louis’s door before giving up and helping him inside of his own flat, instead. He couldn’t just leave the guy outside and passed out. Who knows when his roommate would be back or if he was back or what was going on? That would be cruel and Louis was in no right state of mind to properly take care of himself. Harry even asked him if he had keys, but Louis emptied out his pockets and laughed when he didn’t.

While walking Louis to his bedroom, Louis continued to say a bunch of random shit, which Harry wasn’t sure if he should even try to keep up with. He tried asking the older lad if he needed anything to which he simply shook his head and laid back on Harry’s bed, getting comfortable. After Louis cuddled up with a few pillows and got comfortable, Harry could only stare at him, wondering when his hot neighbour went from being this out of reach enigma to actually sleeping on his bed.

Like, seriously.

Even if Louis was partially comatose and nothing sexy was happening because Harry slept on the lumpy couch. It still made Harry smile.

The morning after was slightly embarrassing, more so for Louis, Harry would imagine, but they got through it and now Harry was standing in their small kitchen and making Louis and himself some breakfast. He was putting in extra effort into it, but not because he wanted to impress Louis and get into his pants, but more because he wanted to help him with his hangover as best as he could. It looked painful from what Harry had seen. He made sure the eggs were soft, but well cooked, made sure the toast had that perfect crisp, but wasn’t burnt, and that the turkey sausages were juicy and delicious.

Louis walked out of the bathroom after ten minutes once he’d freshened up and he warily made his way over to the kitchen. The two of them made eye contact and laughed nervously before Harry turned back to the hob to make sure nothing was burning. “Would you like water or juice? We ran out of milk, unfortunately.”

“Do you have tea?” Louis asked, sitting down at the table. “I need a cuppa in the morning. Well -- at all hours of the day, actually.”

“We do,” Harry said, moving over to one of the cupboards to grab a tea bag. “How do you like it?”

“No sugar or milk,” he replied.

Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise, fixing it up for him and smirking down at the counter. “That’s interesting.”

“Something funny?” Louis asked, a teasing hint to his voice.

“Nothing,” Harry shook his head, looking over at him for a moment. “Just never met someone who took their tea so strong.”

Louis laughed. “I just don’t see the point of tea being tea if it’s drowning in milk or pounds of sugar.”

“Three sugars is just enough for me,” Harry said, sticking his tongue at Louis and giving him his cup of tea. “I’ve made eggs and toast and sausages.”

“Thank you,” Louis said, taking the cup from him and giving him an appreciative smile. “Honestly, like, thanks for everything. For picking up my drunk arse in the hallway last night and letting me sleep on your bed and for cooking me breakfast that I probably would have never bothered to try myself because I know I’d burn down the building. Usually I grab a bagel from the school cafeteria.”

Harry blushed, embarrassingly so, and waved Louis off. “It was honestly nothing. I would have wanted someone to do that for me if I was passed out in the hallway. Love thy neighbour, innit?”

“True,” Louis agreed with a pretty smile. God, he was so fucking pretty. Pretty, pretty Louis. Harry should probably stop staring. He turned back to breakfast, serving it on two plates before bringing it over to the table and sitting down across from Louis. For a while it was just the sound of their forks and knives clattering on their plates and the food being chewed in their mouths. When Louis looked up to meet Harry’s eyes, Harry could have sworn he was checking him out. Louis cleared his throat then. “Do you always walk around wearing just pants?”

Harry smiled through the food in his mouth. “Not always. Just when I’m home. I like the feeling -- makes me feel like I’m free.”

“I’m not here to judge,” Louis said, putting his hands up in defense. “You saw me last night. That was probably my worst. I hope I didn’t say anything embarrassing.”

Harry could tell Louis was really curious about what exactly he’d done or said last night because he was looking at him through his lashes while shoving eggs in his mouth with a curious tone to his voice; so not a question, but not just a statement, either.

Harry shrugged casually. “You said some stuff here and there.”

“Oh god,” Louis groaned, covering his face with his hands. “What did I say? Be gentle with me.”

“I don’t remember all of it,” Harry said, trying to fight the smile on his lips because it was sort of fun teasing Louis. “But there was this one instance when we were walking to my room and you were talking about your mum’s wedding this past summer. And you started talking about weddings in general and how you’d like to play an important role in mine -- like the groom. And then you started laughing really hard saying that was so smooth of you.”

Mortified wouldn’t be enough to describe Louis’s expression. It was downright horrified and appalled and Harry couldn’t tell if it’d be rude to laugh because he _really_ wanted to laugh. Louis narrowed his eyes at him and fixed him with a glare.

“Did you make that up?”

“I couldn’t if I tried, mate. Very smooth, indeed.”

“I was drunk,” Louis said, as though he was clarifying. “I can’t be held accountable for any embarrassing thing I do or say when I’m drunk.”

“I believe you,” Harry said, smiling at him. “I didn’t think anything of it, don’t worry.” Harry paused for a moment, trying to muster up the courage to say the next part. “I actually am kind of glad this happened.”

“What?” Louis asked. “Me passing out in front of your door?”

Harry laughed, shakily before nodding his head sheepishly. “Is that bad?” he asked. “Like, other than the fact that you passed out and you have a hangover. It gave us an excuse to actually talk other than the hi and hello we exchange in the hallway.”

Louis smiled, a bit shyly, while playing with the food on his plate and looking up at Harry. “I didn’t know you wanted to have an excuse to actually talk other than hi and hello we exchange in the hallway.”

Harry bit his bottom lip, chewing on it and wondering how forward he was being. He didn’t want to scare Louis away, but he also wanted to leave a lasting impression. Harry had met a ton of cute boys in Uni since he started, he’d charmed the pants off of every single one of them, but something about Louis just made him want to try harder because he got so nervous around him. Louis just seemed like the kind of guy you’d want to know -- that you’d want to like you, too. Whenever Harry had seen him, he’d had such a great aura about him. He exuded sunshine; natural, confident and the life of the party. Louis was the guy everyone was probably trying to talk to and impress, so Harry had to take it up a few notches if he wanted to be around in his life and actually have this go somewhere.

“I did, yeah,” he replied honestly. “Only if you did, too, though.” He added the last bit for good measure, making Louis laugh.

“I mean -- sure. I’d like to get to know you better. I’ve been pretty curious to know as to why you give Niall a lunch bag everyday before his classes since I’ve first seen you, so.”

“Oh my god,” Harry said, this time his turn to blush. “I swear that there is a perfectly logical explanation for that.”

“And I can’t wait to hear about it,” Louis said. “I’m glad we’re owning up to all the embarrassing shit we’ve done in front of each other. Accepting it and moving on is the best step.”

Harry laughed shakily, thinking back to the night he’d sang along to the Backstreet Boys with Louis while standing outside of his flat door. That hadn’t left his conscious since it happened, reawakening every time he saw him, really. Maybe he should just own up to it now since they were both on a roll, otherwise, Harry was sure it was always going to come back to him like war flashbacks.

“Um,” Harry murmured before clearing his throat. “Since we’re on that topic, I kinda have something I wanted to tell you.”

Louis hummed, looking up at him expectantly.

Harry took a deep breath, readying himself. “A few nights ago, I was walking back to my flat and I heard you singing the Backstreet Boys inside and I started to sing along.”

Louis’s eyes widened and it looked like he was stuck between laughing and trying to keep a neutral expression so as to not startled Harry. “That was _you_?” he asked shrilly.

Harry shrugged apologetically and nodded his head.

Louis snickered a bit before picking up his tea and sipping it. “I think we’re going to be good friends, Harry.”

**L**

_Hiiiiii Louuuu. I’m done with my accounting lecture. Want to meet me at the usual spot? x H_

_hey h. i’ll be there in about 15???? u also don’t have to keep signing ur texts i have u saved on my phone believe it or not_

_This what I do, Lou. It’s my thing. Please don’t mock my aesthetic. x H_

_oh my god_

Louis knew he was right when he’d said that he and Harry were going to be good friends. He really did.

And he had several reasons to back up why.

For one, the two of them _loved_ the Backstreet Boys. There was an entire night where they’d blasted popular 90’s boybands’ music in Louis’s flat and sang along obnoxiously just like the first time, except this time Harry did it in front of him and not behind the front door like a sneaky creep.

Two, Harry was a great cook and Louis had never cooked a meal in his life, so it went hand in hand. When the two of them didn’t meet up to eat a meal off campus, Harry would always offer Louis homemade breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. And who was Louis to turn down delicious dishes that Harry himself prepared? He’d be a fool to do.  

Three, the two of them got on so _beautifully_. Their banter was great; Louis hadn’t met someone in a long time who could counter back to his sassy and witty remarks as cheekily as Harry could. And there wasn’t a thing that the two of them couldn’t talk about. Within the first week, they’d covered almost all grounds while getting to know each other from fears about growing up, dreams about the future, old memories from when they were kids, etc.. They even talked about their parents’ divorces, exchanging experiences and thoughts about marriage and love and finding soulmates that were right for them. It was so lovely and Louis could hardly believe the fact that he could talk to someone who he barely knew a mere few weeks about almost anything without the fear of being judged. It was hard to find people like that and you shouldn’t let them go when you’d found them. And Louis didn’t intend to let Harry go.

However, as similar and compatible as they were, they were also miles different.

For one, Louis was a drama major and knew when to fake it. Harry, on the other hand, was a terrible liar. He couldn’t do it even if there was a gun held to his head. One night when Louis was over and they were marathoning all the Scream movies on Netflix, Harry had eaten a  burrito he had found in his fridge, but turned out it was Liam’s. He’d only realized it when he was more than halfway done and looked at Louis with panic in his eyes. Louis told him to just lie and blame it on Niall or something. Needless to say, Harry fessed up right away and went to buy Liam another burrito.

Another would be their athletic skills. While Harry was built quite impressively, it was only because he’d frequented the school gym often. His skills when it came to football were subpar as Louis came to know. One day, he’d asked Harry to go for a kickabout out in the park beside their building and Harry agreed easily. When they got to playing, Louis was doing circles around Harry, scoring goal after goal while Harry couldn’t even properly kick the ball. Since then, Louis made a solemn promise not just to Harry, but also to himself, that he’d help Harry get better.

And despite knowing Harry as well as Louis did because of the past few days they’d been spending together, he wanted to know him even better. He wanted to know Harry better than the back of his hand. He wanted to know what kept Harry up at two am or what song was stuck in his head or how he’d look in Louis’s bed or whether or not he snored while he slept. Louis wanted to know about every single one of Harry’s dreams, from the ones that didn’t make sense to the ones that wouldn’t leave his mind, and what other movies brought tears to his eyes other than Titanic. And Louis _really_ wanted to know what Harry’s face would look like if he kissed the inside of his thighs.

Harry was unlike anyone Louis had ever met and there was just so much more to know. And Louis wanted to know Harry better because he was falling for him. As speedy and quick as that was, he could see himself with the curly haired boy down the hall.

**…**

“So, then he was like, did you do the assignment for last night and I was like sort of, did you? And he was like same,” Eleanor pattered on, her brown hair blowing in the wind. “So, I was like oh, cool. And he was all, we should work on it together some time.”

Louis nodded his head, trying to half pay attention to the story Eleanor was telling him about that guy in her Lit class -- 90’s John Stamos wannabe -- and reply to Harry’s text about where he was. Not too far from what it seemed. Louis and Eleanor had just left their Ethics lecture and Harry was at the fountain by the library, revising for an exam he had later. Apparently, he liked to see the Uni atmosphere around him when he studied because that made him focus harder.

Harry was so _weird_ and Louis was so _endeared_.

“Lou,” Eleanor said with an exasperated tone, glaring at him. “Lou, are you even fucking listening to me?”

“Yes,” Louis replied, hitting send to his text and turning back to his friend. “I’m listening, I swear.”

Eleanor arched an eyebrow with a bored expression. “Alright, then what did I just say?” she asked drily.

“You know -- like, Lit class. 90’s John Stamos wannabe. He said stuff, you said stuff,” Louis stammered, realizing how bad this looked and sounded.

“Do you even know his name?” she asked, crossing her arms as they walked through the University quad. “Tell me his name.” Louis drew a blank, mumbling gibberish under his breath while looking around their campus, hoping it would just come to him. Eleanor clicked her tongue, too knowingly and shook her head in disappointment. “You don’t know his name, Lou.”

“Fine,” Louis admitted. “I don’t. But that’s only because I’ve associated him with the nickname 90’s John Stamos wannabe and I’ve grown rather fond of it.”

“It’s Max,” she told him disapprovingly, like she wasn’t buying his story even though it was true. “Honestly, Louis. I fucking like him a lot and I really need your support.”

“Listen,” Louis said to her as sincerely as he could. “You just have to see him outside of class more and get to know him.”

“I tried, remember? At the bar when I walked by him several times and all I got was a stupid wave.”

“Shit,” Louis muttered. “You sure he’s straight, babe, because surely if he wasn’t then he would be interested in you? You’re gorgeous.”

Eleanor preened at the compliment, batting her eyelashes at Louis. “I’m pretty sure he’s straight. He dated Georgie Bell a few months ago. But what do I do, Lou? How do I get him to hang out with me outside of class?”

Louis mulled over it for a minute, biting his lip in concentration, desperately trying not to reach into his pocket for his vibrating phone, which surely meant Harry was texting him again. And that was when it hit him. “Ask him to come to Stan’s party this weekend. Be super casual, but flirty about it. And then on the day of the party, you should flirt with him and then look like you’re interested in another guy and he’ll hate that. It’ll drive him nuts.”

“You’re right,” Eleanor said giddily, practically jumping up on her feet. “Fuck, that’s a brilliant plan. You’re a genius.”

“Can’t say that’s the first time you’ve said that to me,” Louis said, taking out his phone to check Harry’s messages. Eleanor peeked over his shoulder and looked at the name.

“Oh,” she cooed. “Hot neighbour Harry.”

“The one and only. He’s actually waiting for me by the library fountain.”

“You’re seeing him right now?”

Louis nodded.

“Well, I want to meet him!” she said. “Have to see what the fuss is about.”

“Alright,” Louis replied. “But just one thing -- him wearing clothes does him no justice to when he’s half naked. It does him some justice of course, but not as much when he’s naked. So, you won’t be experiencing Harry in his full glory.”

“Duly noted.”

The two of them walked towards the library and when they approached the fountain, they found Harry with his head in his books, mumbling the words back to himself as he revised. He looked up when they neared him and his smile was absolutely breathtaking. Louis was having a hard time getting used to it even though they’d been friends for a little over two weeks now, but it was so pretty. Louis didn’t think he’d ever get used to Harry’s pretty smile or the way his own heart sped up a little whenever it was aimed at him.

“Hiii,” he drawled out, looking at Louis and then at Eleanor.

Eleanor beat Louis to the punch before he could reply back. “I’m Eleanor,” she greeted. “Louis’s friend. Nice to meet you.”

“You, too,” Harry smiled politely. He turned back to Louis. “What’s going on?”

“El and I were just talking about our mate Stan’s party,” Louis told him. “It’s this weekend. You’re coming right?”

Harry shrugged, looking at the two of them carefully. “I didn’t know if I was invited. Usually the parties Niall and I went to our first year were the ones that happened on our floor at the dorm rooms thrown by pre-med first year students, so the craziest it ever got was getting drunk on a bottle of wine. This, though, is, like, a proper Uni party isn’t it?”

Louis could literally scoop Harry up and hold him like a baby while rocking him back and forth, but that would be a bit weird because he also wanted to suck his dick. “Of course you’re invited, Haz,” he said fondly. “I’ll text you the details and you can bring Niall, too.”

“Okay,” Harry grinned happily. “Now that that’s sorted, would either of you know anything about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs because I’m going to be tested on it in--,” he checked his watch, “--one hour and I can’t memorize this quick enough.”

“I know,” Eleanor piped up, sitting beside him. “I took Marketing last year and covered that. Hand me your notes.” Harry passed over his notebook to Eleanor and sat there quietly as she scanned it. “Are you taking Cowell for this?”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, why?”

“That’s who I took,” she said with a grin. “Oh, you’ll be just fine. It’s the first exam of the semester, right?”

Harry nodded again.

“Alright, so here’s everything you need to know,” she said, getting comfortable beside him. Louis frowned slightly, sitting on Harry’s other side while his best friend hogged his new friend’s attention. He didn’t know if this was a good thing or bad.

**H**

Harry’s first proper Uni party was fun.

Stan lived only five minutes away in a building similar to theirs and he seemed like a really decent guy, extremely friendly and welcoming, just like Eleanor. Harry found that almost all of Louis’s that he met had been great. Zayn was a beautiful work of art and Harry didn’t just think that because he was beautiful, but also because Zayn had a beautiful heart as well. They spoke about things like art and the society they lived and Harry had never met someone who was so cultured -- or hot (except Louis because, _of fucking course_ ). Eleanor and Harry bonded the entire time the day he met her, talking not only of course work, but also about clothes because they were dressed similarly. They even exchanged numbers to go shopping together one day.

It had been an hour since Harry and Niall arrived together; Liam had arrived earlier, smoking with Zayn out in the backyard. Louis was by Harry’s side for a while, introducing him to everyone and sticking a drink in his hand, but then disappeared a half hour ago after Eleanor dragged him away. The two of them were currently whispering between themselves a few feet away and Harry couldn’t help but feel a little curious as to what they were talking about. Niall, on the other hand, was already sloshed, throwing his hands up in the air with a guy named Ed Sheeran while singing Bitch Betta Have My Money by Rihanna. It was entertaining, really. They hit it off great, but Niall got on with everyone, so it wasn’t a surprise.

After the song ended, Niall walked over to Harry, handing him another drink since he’d downed the fruity thing Louis gave him a while ago. “So, have you made a move yet?” Niall asked once Harry took the red cup from him.

Harry frowned, looking a bit confused. “A move?”

“On Louis,” Niall said, like it was obvious.

Harry’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “Oh my god, Niall. You can’t talk about this here. We are surrounded by all of his friends and someone is bound to hear and it’ll ruin everything.”

Niall laughed loudly, throwing his head back. “Come off it, Harry. It’s not like it’s some big secret. Everyone knows you fancy him and that he fancies you.”

“No one knows anything,” Harry gritted, shoving at Niall. “And besides, he’s sort of hosting. So, he’s mingling about. I can’t follow him around like a puppy.”

“Maybe he wants you to follow him around like a puppy.”

“How do you know that?”

“He’s staring at you.”

“ _What_?” Harry asked shrilly, trying so hard to not look over where he’d last seen Louis standing. “What does he look like?”

Niall furrowed his brows, like he was calculating the proper response. “Uh -- wearing a jean jacket with a white shirt underneath--.”

“Not what he’s wearing, Niall. Like face. Is he just staring? Like how is he staring?”

“Oh,” Niall grinned after he finally understood. “Like he wants you to put your boner in his booty.”

“Oh my god,” Harry exclaimed, almost giddy. He casually glanced around while sipping his drink, finally turning to where Louis was to see that he was actually looking back. Louis gave him an easy smile before Eleanor called him, stealing his attention away. Louis turned to look at her and Harry turned back to Niall, too, albeit reluctantly. But then he noticed that Niall had disappeared too, so Harry was alone.

Great.  

He probably looked so sad standing there. He should find someone to talk to so he didn’t look as lonely, but the crowd was all upperclassmen and Harry knew none of them. Maybe he could either find Zayn or Liam. Or he could join Niall.

While contemplating, Harry casually turned to look back at Louis and couldn’t help but notice how close he and Eleanor were standing. Eleanor had an arm slung around Louis’s shoulders while he animatedly told her some story, making her giggle into her cup. It was almost _too close_ \-- the more Harry looked at them -- like, there was something _more_ to them. When Louis turned away to talk to Stan and a few other mates, Eleanor’s eyes quickly scanned the room before she put her arm around Louis again, while twining her curls in her finger and smiling at him, her teeth between her lips.

And okay.

Well, it just seemed to make sense, really, as dreadful as it was for Harry.

Harry knew that Louis was single because he’d mentioned it a few times to him, but Eleanor and him just seemed really close. Harry was told that they grew up together and were best friends all their lives. And naturally, when you’re best friends with someone as fit as Louis, feelings had to come to play at one point or another. By the looks of it, it had for Eleanor, apparently because she looked like she was in love with Louis.

And that’s just fucking great because Harry really liked Louis, too. He had since he’d first seen Louis out in that hall when he was walking out of his flat. Maybe he didn’t have the years on him like Eleanor did, or the close bond -- yet. But that didn’t mean his feelings weren’t deep because they’d only grown more since they became friends. Harry should have fucking known. It almost felt _too_ perfect with Louis and nothing was ever that easy. Fuck his luck.

Harry watched them pathetically in despair as Eleanor continued to do things to get Louis’s attention while he occasionally reciprocated it back, but also spoke with a few of his other friends, too. And then it dawned on Harry even more -- Louis must not know how Eleanor felt about him. Fuck. This was a giant mess.  

If this was the case then Harry was doomed. He could never stand between two friends when one of them liked the other. That was unfair and so against the storybook ending. Eleanor knew Louis first and what if they were each other’s true loves because that’s how it always worked out in the movies and books and programs on television. What if she was waiting for him to catch on and then once he did, they could be together? Harry would feel guilty for the rest of his life if he tried to pursue Louis after noticing all this, especially when Eleanor had been so nice to him.

While contemplating everything that he’d just discovered, Harry missed when Louis excused himself from his group of friends and walked over to Harry. He was holding a bright blue drink and wearing a big, sunny smile. “Harry,” he said, wrapping an arm around the younger boy. “How are you liking it? You having fun?”

“Good,” Harry replied shakily, way too focused on the arm around him and suddenly feeling like Louis could read his thoughts. “It’s fun. So, good.”

“You sure?” Louis asked a bit softer this time. “Because you don’t sound as sure.”

Harry gulped and nodded quickly. “Pretty sure.”

That seemed to be enough for Louis and he smiled again. “Well, Niall seems to be having fun,” Louis noted, spotting Niall throwing his fists up in the air and singing along to I Don’t Fuck With You by Big Sean. This was another entertaining sight. It just looked all sorts of wrong to see Niall throwing his chicken arms up in the air along with the song. The sad part was, Harry knew Niall wasn’t even that drunk. He just genuinely thought he was cool to be rapping.

“Niall can have fun anywhere,” Harry responded with a laugh. “Take him to a retirement home and he’ll be bopping.”

“As long as he’s having a good time,” Louis replied. He turned towards Harry as the song changed to something more upbeat. Louis’s eyes brightened, like he recognized the song, which was Shut Up And Dance by Walk the Moon. “We should dance.”

Harry met Louis’s gaze and if he wasn’t mistaken, Louis almost looked hopeful. It made him think about how he’d thought Louis liked boys. He’d definitely hinted at it a few times, but maybe he liked girls, too. People were really flexible and the sexuality spectrum was wide, so Harry couldn’t just assume. Besides, if he was strictly dickly, Eleanor wouldn’t be trying so hard. She was his best mate after all, she’d know before anyone else what he liked or didn’t like. Harry was sure she’d know better than Harry, at least.

Just as Harry was about to respond with a maybe, Eleanor popped up beside Louis, hooking her chin over his shoulder and grinned giddily at the two with flushed cheeks and happy eyes. “Let’s dance, Lou. We should fucking dance. I fucking love this song.”

Louis looked at Harry for a moment who suddenly felt very on the spot, more so because Eleanor was right there. He gave Louis a sad shrug. “Maybe later,” he finally responded to his earlier question. Louis stared at Harry for a brief moment, looking almost a bit sad before giving him a single nod and leading a very drunk Eleanor to the dance floor.

Harry spent the rest of the time at the party trying to fight his feelings for Louis and convincing himself that it’d be the right thing to do. So far, he’d just felt disheartened and sad.

**L**

“Fuck,” Eleanor groaned on the other end of the line, her voice raspy and shot. “I’m so fucking hungover, Lou. I feel like ripping my head off. Every part of me hurts and I found a bruise on my thigh. Like, shit, I don’t even remember getting it.”

Louis chuckled, letting the phone sit between his shoulder and ear while trying to hold his books and carry his thermos full of tea that he brought from home. It was hard to multitask while walking at the same time, but so far so good. “That bloody sucks. Did you have a good time last night at least?”

“I mean, yeah. I guess. Max was quite interested in you and me.”

“Oh, right. Your little act last night was really amusing. I almost thought you were trying to pull me, too.”

“Ha ha,” Eleanor fake laughed, despite their being an amused tone to her voice. “Right, as if. Your arse would be the last arse I’d pull ever and it’s only because I’ve seen you in your diaper days and it wasn’t pretty.”

“I resent that,” Louis said, affronted. “I was a stud back then. You were the one that was always spitting up.”

“Yeah and you won’t let me forget it, you dickwad. Anyways, like I was saying, Max fell for it. He kept looking over and he even texted me this morning.”

“Oh, did he?” Louis asked, letting his voice rice in curiousity. “What’s he said then?”

“Just hi and what I’m up to.”

“Riveting man. Full of deep, intricate thoughts.”

“Fuck you. He’s hot.”

“And that’s all that matters,” Louis said sarcastically. “So, text him back. Keep this going.”

“Planning on it,” Eleanor replied. “Just have to get out of bed and properly wake up. Don’t want to say anything stupid. Where you headed then? I assume you’re out.”

“I’m on campus,” Louis replied, stopping in front of a bench that was beside the library doors and putting his books down. “Harry and I are going to study together. He’s found a spot in the library.”

Eleanor gagged at that, sounding absolutely disgusted. “Why in God’s name are the two of you at school on a Sunday afternoon the day after a party? You should be at home, procrastinating while drinking coffee and trying to nurse your hangovers.”

“Speak for yourself. I was smart as fuck last night and Harry didn’t seem to drink much, either. Besides, he didn’t ask me to come. I sort of invited myself. I asked what he was doing and he told me he had some assignments to finish and I thought why not go with him? I could get work done and possibly make a move. Couldn’t do it last night with you all over me now could I?”

Eleanor laughed, obnoxiously. “Oops.” She paused for a moment and Louis heard some sheets ruffling on the other end; she was probably only just getting out of bed. “In all honesty, though, I really like Harry. He’s chill and also very cute.”

“More than cute. He’s perfect.”

“Relax, Romeo. First get your boy and then praise him to the ends of the earth. Go make a move for now. Make out between the bookshelves or something. Blow him under the table.”

“You are filthy,” Louis remarked, although her suggestions didn’t seem so far off from what he wanted to do. “We’re just going to be studying. I need to figure out if he likes me or not because so far, it hasn’t looked so good. Last night, I had asked him to dance and he denied me. It was so awkward. Thank God you were there to save me.”

“It’s what I’m here for. Plus, I’m sure he does fancy you,” Eleanor said. Louis could hear tap water running in the background, which meant she was up and functioning. “He’d be mad not to.”

“Thanks,” Louis replied. “Anyways, so chat later?”

“Alright. Good luck, lover boy. Ta.”

Louis pocketed his phone, grabbing his books and thermos off the bench before walking the last few steps into the library. The place was deserted at most, save for the spare few students who were sat at their tables with their books and laptop spread out in front of them. Those were the students who genuinely had their life together. Bless them and their straight A’s.

Harry had texted Louis an hour ago saying he was on the third floor on the left. Louis took the stairs up, panting by the time he got to the top and turned left. He spotted Harry’s fluffy, curly hair in between the shelves where he was sat at a massive table with all of his shit spread out. As Louis approached, Harry didn’t notice, too engrossed in whatever he was typing on his laptop whilst his tongue was sticking out from between his teeth in concentration.

God, he was _so cute_.

“Hey, Curly,” Louis greeted, the nickname slipping out easily -- and, yeah, that worked -- as he walked over to the table, setting his things down beside Harry.

Harry looked up from his laptop, his lips bitten red and his eyes as green as ever. “Hi,” he smiled, a pink tint forming on his cheeks. “Nice of you to join me.”

“I mean, I had to, didn’t I?” Louis asked, sitting down on his seat. “When you said you were going to come down to get work done on a Sunday, no less, I couldn’t have you upstand me as the poster child for good student.”

“Oh, of course not,” Harry admonished with an amused expression. “You’re the model student, Lou. Even though most of your notes are doodles of skulls and penises, they speak volumes as to how much you’ve learned.”

“Are you mocking me, Harry?” Louis asked, leveling him with an affronted look. “Because if you are, I’m going to have to ask you to cut it the fuck out. We’ve got work to do. Can’t be fucking about.” He made a scene of getting settled in while Harry tried to contain his grin -- unsuccessfully -- and even went as far as opening his books, like he was actually about to do some work, but then paused. Louis looked over at Harry’s laptop, peering over his shoulder, nosily. “What are you doing?”

“Writing a paper,” Harry replied. “But I can’t when you’re breathing down my neck.”

Louis huffed hotly on his neck anyway before settling back down on his own seat. He actually did end up looking at the list of things he had to do for his classes, momentarily getting swept up by the paper deadlines, exam dates, and projects. Harry continued to type away, actually focusing, too and Louis bit his lip, wondering after a while what he could do to make a move. When he’d told Harry he would study with him, he was picturing playing footsie under the table and maybe being a bit touchy feely -- drop a few hints. If he wanted to go on a stretch, maybe even make out between all the books after all that.

But it was proving to be the real issue because Harry was actually here to do work. Big surprise, that. And Louis couldn’t disrupt Harry, but he also kind of wanted to. While Louis sat there contemplating what to do and tapping his pencil against the front of his notes, he didn’t notice Harry turn to face him.

“So, um, I had fun last night,” Harry said, his voice cracking a bit at the end, so he cleared it. “Thanks for -- um -- inviting me.”

“Yeah, of course,” Louis quickly said with a smile. “I’m glad you did. So glad you came, too.”

“Your friends are nice,” Harry said, a little carefully. “Like, Stan and Zayn and Oli. They were all super nice. Eleanor, too.”

“Well, I told them you were my new friend and they had to be nice,” Louis said with a teasing tone, hoping Harry would catch his drift -- that Louis liked him and his friends had to be nice to the boys he liked.

Harry smiled shyly before composing it to something a bit more neutral. “Eleanor’s great, you know?” he said next, causing Louis to form a small frown on his face because that’s _random._ Harry continued, his eyes earnest and wide. “She’s very pretty and she’s so nice. Like, I like her and I think she’s a great girl, Lou. She’s brilliant, too. I can see why guys would go mad for her. I get it.”

Okay, _what the fuck_?

Harry gave Louis one last small smile before going back to his paper and Louis sort of just stared at the side of his head before turning back to his book with a deeper frown etched on his brows. Why was Harry waxing poetry for Eleanor? They’d only met that one time and somewhat talked at the party last night. He almost sounded like -- fuck, Louis couldn't even say it -- like, he fancied her? Was Harry straight?

Louis was _so sure_ he wasn’t. He’d checked Louis out countless times before. Maybe bisexual then? Fuck. He very well could be. Despite that, Harry could forget about getting with Eleanor because that wasn’t going to happen. Not only was she besotted with that 90’s John Stamos wannabe, but she would _never_ do that to Louis. Not when she knew how much Louis liked Harry.

Given all that, though, Louis really shouldn’t jump to conclusions because Harry could just be talking about Eleanor in general. It was just odd, though, how he phrased everything and randomly brought it up. Louis tried to push those thoughts out of his head and focus on his work, but he still could help but feel a bit disheartened.  

**H**

Harry’s bowling shoes were glowing bright neon blue and white under the dim bowling alley lights. He’d just tied them up and tried not to wrinkle his nose at the smell before settling back in his seat. When he looked up, he spotted Niall bent over on the ground because he’d fell while trying to put his shoes on. Typical. Beside him, Zayn and Liam were laughing at Niall while Louis and Eleanor were stood by the score machine, arguing over who got to use it and be the leader.

Just looking at the two of them made Harry sad and they’d only just gotten there, so imagine how much worse it could as the night progressed. It was Liam and Niall who suggested they all do something together as a group. Everyone was always meeting one another either by bumping into each other on campus or at the bar on the weekends or in the hallway at the flat, and since everyone was friends with another, they’d thought it’d be great to do just meet up and hang out as a collective group. That was when Louis suggested they all go bowling and everyone easily agreed because, let’s be real, no one really ever said no to Louis.

Since the party at Stan’s, Harry hadn’t seen Eleanor around much, but had obviously seen Louis plenty and it wasn’t just because they were neighbours. The two of them met up often just like they had before Harry found out about Eleanor’s feelings and started putting distance between himself and Louis. However, recently, even Louis was starting to act a way around Harry. He had no idea if it was because of the way he himself was behaving, causing Louis to think that Harry didn’t want to be as close to him when it was the complete opposite. Like, maybe Louis was starting to realize that he might fancy Eleanor, too, and that he couldn’t be as close with Harry because he knew how Harry felt about him? In the end, though, Harry knew that these were the results of him spending his nights thinking too much when he couldn’t sleep and his mind was filled with thoughts about Louis. But it was all plausible, really.

Louis was Harry’s first real crush in Uni and it was already shit that it ended up like this when he didn’t have much to compare it to. Harry was from a small town in Cheshire and there weren’t many boys who were out back there. They were either in the closet or had internalized homophobia and wouldn’t associate themselves with Harry. Harry himself was in the closet for most of his life back in Holmes Chapel and it wasn’t until the summer before he left for Manchester that he started to be more open about it to people other than his family and best friends. He’d thought Uni would be a new experience where finding boys would be easy.

It had seemed easy.

Now, Harry wasn’t so sure.

Granted, he did hook up with a few boys during his first year, but those weren’t really all that great. Drunken kisses in dorm rooms and quick blowjobs under the blankets before their roommates got back was all subpar to what Louis made Harry feel and he hadn’t even touched him. This ran deeper than physical stuff, Harry knew for sure. It was just sucky that he couldn’t do anything about it anymore.

“Alright, lads,” Louis called, his voice loud as usual, snapping Harry out of his thoughts. “We’re doing teams. Three against three sound good and fair, yes?”

“Get on with it, Tomlinson,” Zayn replied, sounding bored already. He was sat square in the middle looking like Gucci while wearing bowling shoes of all things. Harry didn’t understand.

Louis glared at Zayn before punching a few buttons on the machine. “Alright, so I’ve just decided that I don’t want Zayn on my team. Who wants him?”

“I’ll take him,” Niall offered.

“I’ll be with them,” Liam quipped.

“So that leaves,” Eleanor started to say as Harry’s eyes widened in realization. “Me, Lou and Harry.”

Would you look at that?

Fate was so fucking funny, sometimes. _Really_. It was.

“Perfect,” Louis said clapping his hands together once before shooting Harry a big smile. He crossed over and sat down beside Harry, putting an arm around him and Harry was half trying to fight melting into it and half trying not to seem too stiff. And it sucked so much because the moment Louis sat down next to him, Harry could have sworn he forgot how to breathe. His heart was thumping in his chest and his stomach felt all funny. It was like the world was playing a cruel game with him by testing how far he could go with his feelings for this one boy. And why did Louis smell so good? It was like a mixture of something sweet and something boy. What kind of smell is that and why was it so good? Why did Harry want to climb onto Louis’s lap and kiss the life out of him?

Life was full of questions that Harry wondered if he’d ever hear the answers to.  

Eleanor went up first, picking a lavender colored ball from their set. She hit four pins on the first try and then another three on the second.

“Not bad, not bad,” Louis said, appraisingly. “Just do better next time because I want those three to lose.”

Niall snorted at that, standing up to go do his turn. It went on like that for a while, the two teams going in turns and keeping a steady eye on the score because Louis was great at trash talking and it was spurring on the opposing team. Well, it was mostly spurring on Liam and Niall. Zayn didn’t seem to care much. When it came to Harry’s turn, he reluctantly slipped out of Louis’s hold and walked over to grab a ball. He’d been told he was rather impressive at bowling despite not being great at other sports, but he didn’t like to brag because most found it a bit dorky.

Harry steadied his position at the end of the lane and then rolled his ball down the lane. It went easily, straight and fast before knocking down all the pins. Harry grinned, raising his fists up in the air while Eleanor and Louis cheered loudly behind him. When he turned to look at the others, he found himself engulfed in a hug with Louis. Harry’s arms froze for a moment before slowly coming down to hug him back. It felt good, almost too good and Harry tried not to look up and meet Eleanor’s eyes, which he were sure were on them.

Louis let go and grinned at him, ruffling his hair. “Fucking amazing, Curly. You’re brilliant.”

“Thank you,” Harry beamed, trying not to appear as bashful as he felt, but he was sure his cheeks were pink.

As he walked back to his seat, he noticed Eleanor giving him a smile before looking back to the game where Zayn went up to do his turn. Immediate guilt and dread filled Harry’s stomach and in the moment, he sat down on Eleanor’s other side, which meant that Louis would have to sit next to Eleanor and not him. It was weird and strangely obvious, but Harry hoped it made up for not being able to control how he was around Louis. When Harry looked up, he noticed Louis shooting him a look before taking a seat.

Harry could only wonder what was going through Louis’s head. However, it just felt so wrong to pursue Louis in any way despite how he felt when he knew that Louis’s best mate might very well fancy him, too. Everyone knew that the best mates who fell for each other got together. Anyone else that was in the picture was a passing thought and Harry didn’t want to be one.

The game continued and the two teams were marginally tied, but with Harry’s strikes, their team was ahead. Nobody was more happy than Louis and nobody felt happier about that fact than Harry. Despite the new seating arrangements, Harry still couldn’t keep his eyes off of the blue eyed boy. It was hard to look away when Louis got like this. He was competitive, focused and so fucking happy every time the score was in their favor. Fuck Harry for not being subtle, but in that moment, he really didn’t care. Once the game was over and Niall gave Harry a knowing look, then it was a different story.

Harry gulped nervously, looking away and avoiding eye contact with him. While he tried to appear inconspicuous, someone else suggested they play another game and everyone chorused in agreement.

“How about we get pizza, too?” Niall asked. “I’m rather hungry.”

“Sounds good to me. Get one with everything on it and another plain one for Zayn since he can’t have pepperoni or sausages,” Liam said while Louis and Eleanor went to go ask for another game at the counter.

Niall gave a quick nod before turning to Harry. “Come with?”

Harry looked at Niall and sighed heavily because he knew he wasn’t going to get out of whatever this was so he might as well. He got up and nodded briskly. “Sure, why not?”

The two of them walked quietly over to the food court section, which had an assortment of selections that mostly ranged from burgers, chips and pizza. Niall led the way into the pizza place and ordered the two large pizzas before standing off on the side to wait for them. Harry followed him quietly, wondering when Niall was going to just say it. He knew it was coming and he knew it was going to be annoying, so the sooner he got that over with, the better. It seemed he didn’t have to wait too long, though, because Niall faced Harry with raised eyebrows and a smirk on his lips.

Harry looked back at him and when neither of them spoke for the first thirty seconds, Harry’s skin started to prickle and he knew he was blushing. “Fuck,” he groaned, frustrated at himself. “What is it? Just fucking say it.”

“Why are you being such a dick martyr?” Niall asked bluntly.

“A dick -- _a dick martyr_?” Harry stuttered, confused and oddly intrigued. “What the fuck is that?”

“You’re sacrificing dick so that Eleanor could get some when you don’t even know if she really likes Louis or not.”

“She does!” Harry said adamantly. “She was _all over him_ at the party.”

“She’s not all over him now,” Niall pointed. “Barely saw them doing anything particular.”

Harry shrugged. “She was drunk at the party. Could have been some liquid courage spurring her on. Plus, Louis might start liking her, too.”

“Harry, you honestly over think so much and look where that’s got you. You’re making heart eyes at him from across the room,” Niall said before looking at Harry seriously. “Just answer one thing and be honest. Do you like Louis or not?”

“Yes,” Harry cried, the truth spilling out of him easily. “God, _yes_. I’ve not met anyone like him in -- God knows -- _ever_. And all I want is to just kiss him. I want to kiss him all the time. I’d kiss him every time I looked at something beautiful, so I’d be kissing him all the time because all I’ll ever look at is him.”

Niall stared at Harry, eyes soft and rather surprised. Harry looked back at him, wondering if he took things a bit far. He had no idea where that came from, actually. It was kind of extra, but it was true as hell. “Shit,” Niall breathed out. “That was fucking poetic.”

“Yeah,” Harry responded, shrugging carelessly because he was feeling a bit embarrassed now. “Doesn’t matter, though. I’m not going to put a move on him when she likes him. I think she’s great and deserves Louis.”

Niall sighed, long and frustrated before turning to take the pizzas that the guy behind the counter handed to them. “Fucking dick martyr,” he muttered, shooting Harry a look before leading the two of them back to where the others were.

**L**

Eleanor filed the corners of her middle finger with her soft pink nail filer before blowing on it and looking up at Louis from her seat. Louis looked back at her over his desk and raised an eyebrow. She frowned, giving him a questioning look, before looking back down and starting on her ring finger.

Unbelievable.

Louis was technically working even though it was Friday and most lectures weren’t in session, but Eleanor showed up and basically set up camp beside his desk. So far, she’d eaten her lunch and fixed her makeup and was now working on her nails. Louis wondered how none of the professors hadn’t fired him yet for constantly having her around during his office hours. She _always_ did this and didn’t see why it was considered a bit distracting and unprofessional. Her reasoning was mostly just _shut the fuck up, Louis, I know you love it when I’m here._

“Do you think I should wait some more before texting Max back?” Eleanor asked Louis after she’d finished her pinky finger.

Louis shrugged, staring down at the calendar and planner full of student names and times that he was meant to be organizing. It was the appointment book with all the students who were meeting with their professors throughout this month. With advisement coming up to start registering for next semester, all the professors were crazy booked meaning Louis would be as well. He had to file them into the computer system and make sure to let all the professor’s know.

“How long has it been?” Louis asked, briefly looking up at her before turning back to his work.

“A half hour,” Eleanor replied. “I’m trying not to be eager now that he’s showing some real signs of being interested. Have to play it cool, and all”

“Yeah, but not so cool that you end up looking like you’re not interested at all.”

“Oh no,” Eleanor said her eyes widening and her hands freezing as realization dawned on her. “Do you think that’s the vibe I’m giving off?”

“Not if you’re careful you’re not,” Louis told her before holding up a finger to silence her and answering the phone that had just started ringing. Eleanor pulled her own phone out in the meantime, quickly typing in a reply to Max while Louis finished talking to the student that was asking to be scheduled in for an appointment. Once done, he hung up and looked back at Eleanor.

“Okay,” she said. “I replied to him.”

“Nice, but don’t be so late on the next reply.”

“Noted.” Eleanor put down the nail filer before taking out a bright blue nail varnish from her bag and shaking it up a little, and then uncapping it. Louis gaped at her. Why was he even surprised? Last week she did her toes on his desk over the Course Openings form pile. Eleanor ignored him and spread the blue on her thumb, extremely focused and attentive to not smudge before speaking again. “How’s Harry? Haven’t heard much about him in a while.”

“Same old,” Louis replied feeling a bit glum at the mention of that. “Did I mention he’s being weird?”

“Sort of,” Eleanor said. “He’s still being odd, then? You know, he didn’t seem like he fancied me when we went bowling. I tried to subtly look for clues, but he was mostly just staring at you.”

Louis sighed at the newfound information. When had Harry been staring at him? The entire time at the bowling alley, Harry acted weird and so awkward at times. He wouldn’t sit next to Louis and he kept avoiding being alone with him, constantly sticking to Eleanor’s other side during the game as if to put distance between them. However, Eleanor was always attentive and wouldn’t make that up. Maybe Harry was staring at him, but then why was he being so weird? He was so hot and cold all the time and Louis was getting frustrated. “I’m not sure if he likes you, is the thing,” Louis said finally. “That was a hunch. It just sounded like he did.”

“Strange,” Eleanor commented with a small frown. “I was so sure he was into you. That first day I met him he was staring at you like he wanted to nut you in your bum hole.”

“I know, right?” Louis sighed sadly again. “I don’t know what to do, really. Like, I like him so much. We get on so well and then out of nowhere, he’s being fucking odd. It only started since that party at Stan’s because before that he’d openly check me out and flirt. Now, he’s all guarded and shit.”

“Do you think he’s trying to play hard to get?”

“Don’t know why he would be. I’m not that hard to get -- especially not with him.”

Eleanor snorted, blowing on her fingers before starting on the second hand. “That’s funny. Maybe you should tell him. Just be honest.”

“Do you think?” Louis asked. “Sometimes I really want to because I get so frustrated, you know? Like, I wish he knew how much I like him. I’m _constantly_ fucking thinking about him. He’s stuck in my head like an annoying song on repeat and he doesn’t even want me!”

“You don’t know that!” Eleanor said defiantly. “He could very well fancy you, too. You’re gorgeous, Lou. He’d be lucky to have you.”

“He can fucking have me if he quit the weird shit he’s been doing. And how will I know if he likes me if doesn’t tell me?”

Eleanor bit her lip, not saying anything for a while and focusing on painting her forefinger before looking up. “Remember when we were drunk all those weeks ago at the pub?” Eleanor said smiling. “And I told you to just go and get what you want and be fucking honest? That’s how. If you don’t say anything, you’ll always wonder and life’s too short to just sit around and wonder.”

Louis stared at her for a moment, actually contemplating what Eleanor said. “So, just go for it?”

“Just fucking go for it.”

**…**

_hey curly. wanna come over? zayn’s left to his mum’s for the weekend and im feeling lonely. we could watch bsb music vids!_

_Alright :) I’ll be over in a few. Should I bring any snacks? x H_

_anythings good, yeah!!!!!! but if not, just yourself is fine too :)_

**H**

An hour later, Harry found himself sat comfortably on Louis’s couch with half a plate of Spring rolls in front of them while the laptop, which was plugged up with the television set, was playing all the Backstreet Boys music videos in chronological order. Currently, they were on Get Down (You’re the One For Me) and Louis had broken out into song and dance three times already. Not that Harry minded. It was funny and adorable and he never wanted Louis to stop. He was probably looking a bit too fond because Louis got this look on his face when he sat back down and Quit Playing Games with my Heart started playing.

Things got startlingly quiet after that despite Brian Littrell crooning about not being true to each other and to quit playing games with hearts. And Harry could literally feel the heat radiating between him and Louis, wondering if maybe Louis felt it, too. There was something charged in the air, making the room almost too hot and unbearable. Harry felt like despite all his fighting and trying to not fall for Louis as hard as he did, it was kind of coming down to this. He almost felt like he should be doing something. As if sitting there wasn’t cutting it and he had to figure out what could get rid of this tension that had suddenly filled the room.

But Harry had his head on straight, even though his heart and his dick wasn’t quite following. He focused hard on the music video, at the way the boys were gyrating slowly in the rain, and it was nice, to be quite fucking honest. This was a good distraction and he was going to take full advantage of it. He was going to stare at Howie’s abs and not think about the fact that Louis was suddenly inching closer, even though Harry could feel his heart thudding in his chest from anticipation.

Harry was already breathing heavy by the time Louis leaned in close to his ear and whispered softly, “Harry.”

Harry froze for only a moment before turning to lock their eyes in a heated gaze. After that it was almost instinctive how both their eyes closed and they pressed their lips together. Louis’s lips were soft and so inviting, opening to let Harry’s tongue dip in hotly. And if the fact that he was already moaning into the kiss wasn’t hot enough, then Harry didn’t know what was. He surged forward, toppling Louis onto his back and climbing over him to keep the kiss going. Louis’s stubble rubbed against Harry’s soft skin, but he found that he quite liked it, biting and sucking on Louis’s lower lip.

It felt so good and so nice and so right that Harry almost forgot why he was fighting this. Why was he denying himself something that was perfect? Harry really couldn't tell anymore.

Louis’s hands seeked purchase in Harry’s hair, tugging and pulling him closer while his legs spread on either side of Harry’s body, encasing him in. Harry was all on board with that, rocking his hips down against Louis's. It was like now that they’d done it, they couldn’t fucking stop. Harry couldn’t even lift his mouth off of Louis’s to take a moment to breathe because he’d rather be starved of oxygen for a short while then stop kissing Louis’s soft, pink lips. It only ceased for a moment when Louis broke their kiss to press kisses up Harry’s jaw and cheek, sucking on his earlobe.

Harry’s eyes fluttered shut and he swore under his breath in utter pleasure before it all started coming back to him. Louis was kissing him and Louis’s best friend, Eleanor, liked him and Harry shouldn’t be kissing Louis back. No, no, no. This was not the plan. This was not what he was supposed to do.

Harry’s eyes flew wide open and he pulled away, scrambling back on the couch, sporting an obvious tent in his joggers. Louis sat up too, his eyes wide and confused, while his hair was all messy and his lips were pink and shiny. Harry wanted to fucking wreck him. Honestly, what the fuck? How was Harry supposed to say no to him? How was he supposed to not fall head over heels for someone like Louis? Louis was just a great person to just sit and admire what he’s like. He exuded positivity and fun and everything Harry wanted in a partner. It helped that he was fucking hot, too.

“Harry,” Louis said again, his voice raspy and so sexy that Harry thought he was going to die. “What -- like, what’s going on?”

“Louis,” Harry breathed out, almost pleadingly. “I -- I like you so much. You have no idea, but I can’t. I can’t -- not when Eleanor likes you, too. I don’t know if you know, but she does and I can’t do that to her.”

Louis’s expression was a mixture of shocked, amused, and downright confused. Harry was holding his breath, waiting for him to say something -- anything, but then Louis broke out into a laugh. Of all things, he started to laugh and Harry frowned at him. He wasn't expecting that.

“What the fuck?” Louis wheezed out. “What the fuck are you fucking talking about, Harry?”

“Exactly what I said, Lou,” Harry replied. “Don’t make me repeat it. It was hard enough accepting it.”

Louis laughed for another two minutes before calming down enough to look back at Harry. “Harry, I’m gay,” he said. “I like dick and I can wholeheartedly assure you that Eleanor is aware of that and is _not_ interested in me.”

Harry gaped at Louis, his jaw literally hanging open. “Shut the fuck up,” he breathed out, his eyes wide and surprised. “Really?”

Louis snorted, nodding his head. “Hold on,” he said, holding up a hand as Harry started to move close to him again. “So, you’ve liked me this entire time, but you stopped doing anything about it because you thought Eleanor liked me?”

Harry had the decency to at least look ashamed as he gave a guilty nod. “At Stan’s party she was all over you and it just kind of made sense she liked you. I didn’t want to come between that because she’s so nice and the best friends _always_ get together.”

“Harry,” Louis preened, looking absolutely besotted. “You’re so fucking nice. How did the universe even come up with you?”

“Did you read that on tumblr?” Harry asked.

“Shut up,” Louis snapped despite the smile on his face. “Eleanor was pretending to be interested in me to get the attention of this guy she likes. He’s like a 90’s John Stamos wannabe. She never fancied me. You had it all wrong. And to think, that day at the library when you were complimenting Eleanor, I thought you liked her.”

“No, I don’t,” Harry admitted with a laugh. “She’s a lovely girl, but I’m not into girls. I was just trying to accept the fact that she might like you. God, I feel so stupid. Niall had warned me that I tend to overthink certain things.”

“You think?” Louis asked. “If you’d just said something then we could have been doing what we were doing a few minutes ago all this time.”

Harry smirked at Louis from across the couch, the beginning notes of As Long As You Love Me playing behind them. “I mean, now that everything’s cleared up, I don’t see why we can’t.” He fixed Louis with his best bedroom eyes and curled his finger at him, gesturing for him to move the fuck closer. Louis easily complied, closing the distance between them and practically crawling on top of Harry, their mouths joining together in a sweet kiss.

**L**

“Fuck,” Louis moaned, throwing his head back on the pillow as Harry pounded into him. His legs were wrapped tightly around Harry’s waist and besides their moans, the only other two sounds in the room were coming from the slap of their skins and the bed post hitting the wall every time Harry pushed into Louis.

Louis was grappling onto anything he could reach -- Harry’s arms, his neck, his hair. Harry _loved_ when Louis pulled his hair when they fucked. He went mad with it and only fucked Louis harder, just how he liked it. Harry, on the other hand, was focused on make sure his pace was steady and that he hit Louis’s prostate every time he thrusted in because they’d been going at this for a while and needed release like ten minutes ago.

The sheets were tangled around Harry’s calf, done somehow during their tossing and turning in the bed, and it was strangely sweet; it was real. Harry was fucking _inside_ him and focusing his entire energy on making Louis feel good, and that more than anything made Louis’s skin heat up. Harry didn’t care about anything but fucking him deep and good, and Louis had honestly never had anything better.

The pair had been dating for about a month now and things were amazing. They’d gone on four dates so far, one for every weekend, where they did an array of different things. Once Harry took Louis to London and they acted like complete tourists and made out in front of Big Ben. Another weekend, Louis took Harry to his favorite taco place in Manchester saying that Harry hadn’t lived till he’d had those tacos. The weekend after that, Harry cooked Louis fajitas to one up that place, which worked. And on their last date, Louis cooked his first proper meal for Harry. He made chicken breast stuffed with mozzarella, wrapped in parma ham with a side of homemade mash. Harry loved it so much that he ended up eating Louis’s arse for dessert for a half hour afterwards.

Aside from their dates, the two of them met up in between lectures and would find themselves going across the hall to meet just to hang out because along with being boyfriends, they were quickly becoming best mates, too. Louis got to know more and more about Harry every day and vice versa. And if all that wasn’t good enough, their sex life was on some other level. Louis hadn’t ever met someone who knew his body as well as Harry did and they’d only just started dating.

“You close, baby?” Harry asked, his long, loose curls falling over his eyes. His eyes were trained on Louis’s whole body, his hands touching everywhere, wanting Louis to feel-- _everything_. And Louis needed it, desperately, needed Harry everywhere.

Louis nodded breathily, tucking the strands back and surging forward to kiss him. Harry deepened the kiss, his tongue licking into Louis’s mouth. Louis broke the kiss soon after, feeling his head start to spin from how much he needed to come already. He pulled Harry closer, fingers scratching down his back as he thrusted up to meet Harry’s hips.

“Come-- _on_ , Harry, _fuck me_ ,” Louis urged, voice so wild and unrestrained that their neighbors could probably hear them, but Louis didn’t give a single shit. Let them hear how good his boyfriend fucked him, how good his boyfriend was to him.

Harry laughed at his request. “Am I not fucking you good enough, babe?” Harry shifted slightly, straightening and changed the angle just a bit. “I’ll show you how good I can fuck you.”

Louis moaned, loud and feeling so full as Harry’s cock pressed against him just right. Harry pushed in once, twice, three times before moving his hand between them to wrap it around Louis’s cock, which was hard and leaking between them. Harry stroked it once, thumb rubbing over the head and that was when Louis came, overwhelmed and spurting into Harry’s first.

Harry came right after that with Louis clenching around him and the two of them panted heavily, breathing into each other as they came down from their high. They were so messy and sticky and they were due to meet their friends twenty minutes ago according to the clock on the wall behind Harry.

“That was so good,” Louis said, smiling as he stroked Harry’s hair. “You’re so fucking hot. Know how to fuck me so well.”

“Love fucking you so much,” Harry preened, leaving a trail of kisses on Louis’s sweaty neck. “Perfect little body, I love to wreck you.”

“Fuck, babe,” Louis practically moaned out weakly as his dick gave a feeble twitch at Harry’s words. “Don’t talk like that otherwise I’ll be ready to go again. We need to go meet the others at the pub.”

“We’re late anyway,” Harry smiled, peering up at Louis through his lashes. “What’s another few minutes?”

Louis grinned, his cheeks and body flushed. “As tempting as that sounds, I’m going to fall asleep if we go again. How about after? We can kick Liam and Niall out of the flat and be super loud.”

“That’s the kind of shit I like,” Harry said, laughing as he pulled himself off of Louis. “Count me in.”

Ladies and gentlemen, the dream team.

**…**

“Well, well, well,” Eleanor said as Louis and Harry walked into the pub, hand in hand. “Look who decided to show up.”

“Piss off,” Louis told her despite his smile as he leaned down to give her a hug.

Harry followed behind, giving everyone waves and greetings as they sat down. Zayn, Liam and Niall were already there since Harry and Louis had told them that they'd be meeting them shortly, but got distracted and had sex. Eleanor had joined them shortly with her boyfriend, Max. The two of them made it official shortly after Harry and Louis. It was sweet, really. Max finally got his head out of his arse and made a move. The two of them were adorable together and Eleanor was really happy.

Louis still called him 90’s John Stamos wannabe, though.

“Where’ve you two been?” Liam asked them. “We’ve been here for over an hour.”

“Oh, Liam,” Niall laughed sadly. “Don’t ask them questions you really don’t want to hear the answers to.”

Liam looked puzzled, causing Zayn to laugh, which only further confused him. “What do you mean?” Liam asked with a chuckle. “Why wouldn’t I want to know the answer? I wouldn’t have asked in the first place then.”

“They were boning, Liam,” Eleanor said. “Don’t be daft.”

The tips of Liam’s ears turned bright pink and they all laughed, amused by his expression. Louis felt no shame, as awful as that sounded. He cuddled up against Harry, preening when the younger boy wrapped an arm around him. Eleanor beamed at him from across the booth.

“You’re just so cute,” she cooed. “I’m so glad you’re together. Have I told you that? Because I feel like I never tell you.”

“You told us yesterday, thanks, El,” Louis replied with a laugh.

“I’ll tell you again, then. You're perfect for each other," she continued. "And to think, I was the one who was unknowingly cock blocking you. Imagine Harry kept thinking that I liked you. Tragic, that.”

“Heeey,” Harry drawled out. “That was valid -- kind of.”

“Barely, H,” Niall snorted. “You jumped to conclusions like a fucking frog on a lilypad.”

“Strange analogy,” Zayn commented with a frown.

“Not really,” Liam piped up. “Harry looks like a frog, so.”

Harry gaped at Liam, affronted and horrified at his comment. Louis petted him, trying to calm him down while shooting daggers at Liam. “That’s a bit bloody offensive, Liam. None of that, mate. And this goes to all of you. Stop with your tings, man, at my boy.”

“Yeah,” Max said, speaking up for once. “I say we toast to this. Toast to no more misunderstandings and over thinking and jumping to conclusions. Toast to finally getting our shit together.”

“Well said, babe,” Eleanor beamed, raising her pint.

Everyone did the same, clinking their glasses together before drinking. Harry tugged Louis closer, pressing a kiss to the side of his head. Louis looked up with a smile, feeling so content and happy with where he was right at the moment. Nothing beat being with your best mates and the best boyfriend.

“You know,” Harry whispered in his ear. “I’m really glad you and Eleanor weren’t in love with each other.”

Louis laughed, his eyes gleaming. “Well, I don’t think I’ve ever been in love, Curly. Just your luck then, I suppose.”

Harry smiled at him, kissing the spot next to his ear. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in love either. Till now, I suppose.”

Louis couldn’t contain the grin on his face despite Harry trying to kiss him on the lips. “Yeah, me either.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! :)
> 
> [tumblr](http://quitefinishedlarry.tumblr.com/)


End file.
